Democrats Won’t Forget Blacks, Chairman Vows : Campaign: Brown also tells Urban League members party isn’t distancing itself from Jackson.

SAN DIEGO —  Democratic Party Chairman Ronald H. Brown on Wednesday pledged that black America, the urban poor and issues of social justice will not be abandoned in the party’s quest to recapture the White House in 1992.

Brown also disputed suggestions that Democrats, in an effort to woo white voters, are attempting to distance themselves from the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Jackson will play a key role in the campaign to elect Bill Clinton, Brown said.

“Jackson has been an asset to the Democratic Party and to American politics and we need to stop saying he is some kind of pariah,” Brown said to enthusiastic applause from a largely black audience at the annual Urban League convention here. “We need to embrace him and include him.”

Brown, who worked for Jackson in his 1988 presidential campaign, “guaranteed” that the civil rights leader will be intimately involved in the fall campaign despite what many perceived as a lackluster endorsement by Jackson of the Democratic ticket at the party convention.

“I am in constant communication with (Jackson) and I expect him to be there,” said Brown, acknowledging that no specific role for Jackson had been agreed on yet. “We’re talking to a lot of folks who will be serving as surrogates.”

Brown conceded that some black voters may harbor reservations about Clinton. A survey of black voters released earlier this month by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a black-run think tank in Washington, found nearly one-third of the respondents undecided and 42% committed to the Democratic ticket--a level far below traditional black support for the Democratic Party.

Flaps like that involving Clinton’s criticism of rap singer Sister Souljah at a meeting of Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition have not endeared the Arkansas governor to blacks, Brown allowed. But the party chairman argued that Clinton’s stand would ultimately help him win black support.

“You can make all kinds of arguments about whether it was the appropriate forum and whether he should have talked to Jackson before he made his remarks, but Clinton has a right to his opinion,” said Brown. “And he is consistent. He says the same thing everywhere and doesn’t try to mold or shape his opinions to fit the audience. I think that’s something black Americans and all Americans will appreciate.”

Brown’s upbeat assessment of Clinton’s support among African-Americans was buttressed by the warm reception given the Democratic nominee earlier this week by the Urban League audience.

During his address Monday, Clinton drew on ideas voiced by Urban League President John E. Jacob--even quoting extensively from Jacob’s keynote speech, a tactic that impressed many listeners.

Although the Urban League is precluded by its charter from making political endorsements, much was made throughout the convention of the appearance of Clinton and the absence of President Bush, who also had been tendered an invitation.

“Our attempt was not to be partisan but to open a forum for all,” said Jacob. “Some came, some didn’t. I will let the record speak for itself.”